


The White Rooms

by stuckatomega



Series: The White Rooms [2]
Category: Bastille
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-02-05 03:16:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12785763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuckatomega/pseuds/stuckatomega
Summary: Dan is a beloved news anchor. Kyle wants him back.





	1. Chapter 1

It was three years since Kyle lost Dan. Kyle could never bring himself to say ‘since he last saw Dan’: he saw Dan on the tv all the time. He started in the background, running cameras. Now he was one of the company’s favourite news anchors.

 

That _fucking_ company. Kyle had lost two friends to them. WWCOMMS, the powerful media company, had grown. While Kyle kept his disdain for them, his friends lost their hatred, fell into the trap of the cool new phones and bluetooth speakers and funding driverless cars. As hard as it was, Kyle made sure he owner nothing made by the people who stole Dan.

 

Kyle only kept the tv on for Dan. To hear his voice, to see his face. Even if his soul was gone. That it wasn’t _his_ Dan. 

 

Kyle was tired. It was late, but Dan was hosting. Kyle sat on the sofa, blowing on his Pot Noodle to cool it. His bedsit was small: a living room, a bathroom, a single bedroom, all with minimal furnishing - but Kyle was content. He didn’t draw attention to himself. The edges of the city had less WWCOMMS presence; there were agents nearly everywhere now, but nobody seemed to care since WWCOMMS basically owned everything. Hell, they even owned McDonalds now. When that first happened, Kyle joked that he was in that one episode of Doctor Who with the chips that made people smarter, except they were evil chips.

 

Dan’s voice came tinny from Kyle’s tv, ‘Sleep well, London. Remember to keep your tvs on,’ then he smiled straight st the camera.

 

Kyle made eye contact with the digital Daniel. ‘Only for you.’

 

As the television transitioned to some cheesy infommercial, Kyle pulled his feet onto the sofa, knees to his chest, and ate his still-steaming noodles.

 

— — — — —

 

Agent 1302, also known as Daniel Campbell Smith, was the sweetheart of WWCOMMS. A propaganda machine that had _fans_ was something that the media giant couldn’t let go of. Smith had boosted sales by simply holding their products.

 

Dan didn’t understand why, every time he went outside HQ, people (mainly teenage girls) would approach him. He only cared about the company he worked for. No room for emotions. No room to appreciate his fans. He was normally ushered away by his security before he could ask fans why they came up to him.

 

It was different that morning, though. Early morning mist, most people still asleep. Dan didn’t expect anyone to come up to him - that was the company’s plan, anyway, move Smith when nobody knows - but when someone walked up to Dan calmly and carefully, ignoring security, Dan was... confused.

 

‘Teenage girls don’t have beards. You do.’

 

The fan just stared at Dan. Something about him seemed familiar.

 

‘Dan...’ 

 

‘Yes.’

 

The stranger lifted his hand and tried to touch Dan’s face. Nobody had ever had the audacity to do that.

 

Dan stepped back. ‘Don’t do that.’ With that, Dan and his security walked down the road to their transport, leaving the fan at the corner, hand in the air.

 

— — — — — 

 

Kyle took his walks in the early morning. Get air, get food, get home. He never expected to see Dan.

 

He never expected to lose Dan, again.

 

Kyle let the tears roll down his cheeks as he finally moved away from the spot where he stood.

 

He carried on his routine, bleary eyed. Hood up, follow the path with the least cameras, go to the corner shop Will works at, get food and milk, go home.

 

Something had changed though. Graffiti on the walls.

 

**_Get out of our homes_ **

 

Posters of company products ripped and torn down.

 

**_Free the news_ **

 

In a back alley with few cameras, 

 

**_Blind them_ **

 

Kyle found himself surrounded by anti-propaganda messages.

 

Someone stood at the far end of the alleyway. Hood up, spray can in hand, backpack slung over one shoulder, bandana covering their face. They stared at Kyle.

 

An electronic-sounding voice came from them, ‘Hey beardy. What you doing here?’

 

‘I-, just passing through. I like to avoid as many of the cameras as I can...’

 

The stranger approached Kyle, putting the spray paint back into their rucksack, pulling something else out. They handed Kyle a piece of paper, then continued walking wordlessly.

 

Kyle glanced at the paper and saw a scribbled bit of writing, what appeared to be an address. He put it in his pocket and continued his routine.

 

— — — — —

 

So that was how Kyle ended up joining the rebels. He went to the address on the paper that night. An old warehouse, at the edge of the city. There was more people than he realised. They were nervous when they saw him, a new face, and understandably so. Kyle had heard stories of people who questioned the system going missing, or turning up dead.

 

He was willing to risk that to get to Dan.

 

Kyle didn’t pay much attention. He was given an off-the-grid phone, a few numbers, a pistol, and some ammo. He stared at the pistol in his hand. 

 

‘I didn’t come here because I wanted to kill people,’ he said.

 

‘It’s not for them,’ said one of the rebels, a young girl no older than 18, ‘well, not if you don’t want it to be. It’s for you. So they can’t get anything from you.’

 

Her blunt remark took Kyle aback. Their goal may have been ‘win or die trying’, but Kyle’s was simply to get Dan back.

 

— — — — —

 

‘You seem out of sorts, 1302,’ came a voice from besides the young anchor. Laslo Panoflex, the CEO of WWCOMMS. ‘You’ve been like this since you got here this morning.’

 

The agent snapped back to reality. ‘Sorry sir. I was thinking about someone.’

 

Panoflex raised an eyebrow at Smith. ‘They must be someone special. You’ve never thought about anyone in such a way before.’

 

The fan, the stranger. Dan knew there was a familiarity to him, but he didn’t know what.

 

‘... Can I talk to one of the sketch artists?’ 

 

‘Why do you need to, 1302?’

 

‘I need to know who the person I saw was.’

 

‘After work, Smith. Your work is important.’

 

‘Understood, boss.’

 

The two continued to walk in silence. When they arrived at their destination, Dan entered his studio alone, Panoflex watching from the door as the younger sat behind his desk and readied himself to give the news reports.

 

It was early in the morning before Dan left the studio. One of his security took him to the sketch artist’s room.

 

Dan’s goal: find out who that stranger was. He sat opposite the artist and described the stranger in as much detail as he could remember.

 

When the artist finished, Dan saw the portrayal. Accurate to his memories. Then he remembered something else. 

 

Years ago, when Dan was an intern. He saw the stranger back then.

 

_‘Danny.’_

 

_‘....’_

 

_‘Daniel! Come on!’_

 

_‘I am Agent 1302, do I know you?’_

 

That was before his boss gave him a name to introduce himself as when he was on air. Dan’s head was spinning.

 

‘He- back then- I-‘

 

A wave of emotion overcame Dan, and he didn’t understand it.

 

A hand settled on Dan’s shoulder, and Dan looked up to see his boss. ‘Come on, relax, 1302.’ Panoflex took the sketch and looked it over. ‘Of course... I’ll sort this, don’t worry, Smith.’

 

Dan followed his boss out of the room, not speaking. His lips were dry. The stranger knew him. He was confused.

 

‘Come with me, 1302,’ instructed the older man. Dan nodded and followed his boos into a surveillance room. They were met by a wall of monitors, several agents watching them. Cameras from all over London. ‘Help me find your mysterious fan.’

 

Dan took a seat, legs touching, palms down on his thighs, back straight, his boss lurking behind. Dan’s pale irises flicked back and forth over the screens. 

 

A couple of wordless hours passed, the silence only filled by the flickering of the CCTV feeds, before Dan pointed at a monitor, indicating a figure walking on the far side of the street from where the camera was, hood up, but unable to hide _that beard._

 

‘That’s him,’ Dan said monotonously. 

 

Panoflex nodded then dismissed Dan, telling him to rest, before walking out himself.

 

— — — — —

 

Kyle was ripping every WWCOMMS poster he came across. He’d been a part of the rebel movement for a week, officially, but he didn’t feel much like a part of them. He kept on at his routine. He knew he shouldn’t spend all day at home but it was the only safe place he knew.

 

When one of the alleyways he frequented was closed, however, Kyle panicked a bit. Closed off by police meant something had happened. He stared down the alleyway as police officers moved around, investigating. When one began to turn his way, he hid then went the only other way available to him.

 

One of _their_ cars was parked on the curb and Kyle kept his head down, trying to hurry. He gripped the pistol in his pocket.

 

He got past, and he relaxed a bit. He could get back to his usual path.

 

The car doors opened behind Kyle as he relaxed and slowed down. His ears pricked and he turned to see two of the black-suited, mysterious WWCOMMS agents. 

 

Kyle ran.

 

He felt a sharp pain in his leg, then he fell.

 

Kyle tried to pull himself back up, but he collapsed in pain the second he put weight on his leg. The blood on the floor told him he was shot. He drew his own gun and turned, hand shaking, and aimed it at the ever-approaching agents.

 

‘Fuck you all to hell,’ he growled through gritted teeth, pulling the trigger. Unfortunately for him, he never had a chance to practise his gunmanship, and the bullets missed the agents, save for one grazing one of their arms.

 

Out of bullets, Kyle tried to scramble away again. He made it a few metres before a pair of hands grabbed him by the arms, and a hood descended over his face.

 

Kyle felt his hands be forced together and his wrists be bound together - far too tight - and the string of the hood be tightened around his neck uncomfortably.

 

‘Mr Simmons,’ came the gruff voice of the agent gripping Kyle’s arms, ‘we’ve reason to believe you’re a rebel.’ 

 

Kyle was guided along quickly by the agent. He heard a car door open, then he was pushed in the back, blind. The door slammed shut, then he heard the two agents get in the front seats, lock the doors, then drive off.

 

_‘At least I’ll see Dan again,’_ was Kyle’s only consolation.


	2. Chapter 2

Kyle thought about Dan for the whole car journey. The old Dan. _His_ Dan.

 

His bright blue eyes. His laughter lines. His dimples when he smiled. The way he bend over when he laughed. The way he ran his fingers through that hair that always needed cutting.

 

Kyle wished he told Dan he loved him back then, but hindsight is a terribly unhelpful friend.

 

In a way, Kyle was glad for the hood. Nobody could see him crying. Dan may have been the biggest pessimist Kyle knew, but by god was he cheerful. Kyle thought about everything that was washed away by WWCOMMS. That messy hair was combed back so neatly. The creases in his face from smiling were fading. Pale, pale eyes.

 

The car pulled to a stop and Kyle was snapped out of his introspective daydream about Dan.

 

‘Any chance you can loosen these ropes?’ Kyle asked meekly when he heard the door next to him open. He couldn’t feel his fingers. One of the officers grunted, pulled him out, and adjusted Kyle’s bindings, before shoving him forward and making him walk blindly ahead.

 

The walk felt like forever. Kyle stumbled a couple of times, but the two agents just pulled him to his feet and forced him to continue. When they finally reached their destination, Kyle was forced into a seat. The agents passed a rope around Kyle’s chest a few times to secure him to the chair, then left him to dwell in silence.

 

Kyle was left alone, only his breathing and the occasional thump for his soundtrack. He lost track of time as he tried to finesse the knots loose from his wrists.

 

The door slid open and Kyle froze. Footsteps moved towards him, quiet and calculated, but with an air of weariness. They stopped in front of Kyle.

 

The string on the hood was loosened from around Kyle’s neck, then the whole thing whipped off his head. The room was bright white and Kyle was momentarily blinded, blinking furiously to clear his vision.

 

In front of him stood Dan. Face blank. Eyes flicking to and fro, observing every part of Kyle.

 

‘... Dan...’

 

‘... Kyle Simmons.’

 

Kyle’s heart skipped a beat.

 

‘D-do you-‘

 

‘Boss told me your name.’

 

Kyle’s heart then sunk.

 

‘How did you know me? When I was an intern, I mean. I wasn’t assigned a name then.’

 

‘Dan has always been your name, you got it from your parents, not from that _fucker_ Panoflex!’ Kyle cried, spitting the name of the conglomerate’s leader.

 

Dan remained silent for a few moments, still observing Kyle. They may have been alone, but Dan knew they weren’t _alone_ ; Laslo had cameras everywhere. 

 

‘Don’t you remember Charlie? About what happened to him? They did the same to you, too,’ continued the younger man, head hung in despair.

 

Charlie. Dan saw a face in his mind and he narrowed his eyes slightly. 

 

‘You were so trusting of this place, even after we lost him,’ Kyle went on, not even waiting for Dan to reply. ‘Now they’re everywhere, watching everybody, all the time. You used to hold your phone so your finger covered the camera. “Don’t want my sexy face to get candids taken from less-than-sexy angles”, you used to joke. We saw 1984 in the theatre together. You found it hard to believe that one party could hold so much power, and get away with spiriting people away, and yet here you are, the mast-head of the most powerful media company in history, manipulating people’s thoughts and actions without a second thought. I guess I’m Winston now.’

 

Dan paced around the room slowly. When he passed the location of the camera, the made the hood he held get ‘caught’ on it, hiding the pair from view of his boss. 

 

Dan circled back around to in front of Kyle. ‘Look at me, Simmons.’

 

Kyle looked up, dejected. But this time Dan had _emotion_ on his face. His brows were furrowed. He frowned slightly.

 

Dan knelt down to Kyle’s level. He whispered to the younger man. ‘I’m having... memories. Ever since you came up to me the other day. People I don’t know. Places I’ve never been. Times before WWCOMMS even existed.’

 

‘You- you’re remembering who you are, Dan...’

 

‘But this is all I know. I’m the news anchor. It’s my job. I can’t let rebels destroy the wonderful thing I’ve helped to build, Kyle. Union. We’re getting closer to peace.’

 

‘Union isn’t this. Peace isn’t watching your tongue in case you say the wrong thing and the agents kidnap you in an alleyway. And this wasn’t always your job. Remember the time you worked in that electronics store? And you had to fix a man’s - ahem - girlfriend substitute?’

 

Kyle let out a nervous laugh. Dan stood back up as the door slid open. He stood so straight. Kyle felt uncomfortable; it felt unnatural to see Dan stand to attention like that.

 

‘1302, get ready to broadcast,’ came the voice of Laslo Panoflex. Dan nodded and moved away from Kyle, doing exactly as his boss as ordered.

 

Kyle strained to turn his neck to see the exit to the room, and to see Dan. ‘Dan! Just... one last thing.’ Dan paused and looked at Kyle, irises white. Kyle hesitated, then in a quiet voice called out a single ‘I love you,’ to Dan. Dan blinked, his irises softening to that brilliant blue for a few or two, but returning to that blank, milky white when he blinked again.

 

Dan left silently and the door slid shut, and Kyle was left alone again.

 

— — — — —

 

When they were kids, Dan and Kyle would trawl the internet for hours. The internet was new, and it was _exciting_ for the boys. Kyle recalled that one time Dan found a forum full of internet rumours, and they spent all night looking to see if they were real. Dan was always scared of the rumour about the Red Rooms. He never feared the original Japanese urban legend, only the idea of watching someone in pain, and not being able to do anything. Kyle reassured his older friend many times, often saying that they ‘have to be secret agents, with secret internet’ to find them in the first place.

 

Kyle remembered that night he spent researching the Red Rooms with Dan as he sat alone. This building had its own real life version, apparently: the White Rooms. Who knew how many others like Kyle were trussed up and tormented. For the first time in his life, Kyle was afraid to die.


	3. Chapter 3

Dan didn’t think about Kyle for the rest of the day. He did his broadcast as usual. It was when the broadcast ended, and the next day had begun, that Dan thought about the younger man. He pondered about just how long they’d known one another. He could tell that Kyle cared.

 

Dan was conflicted. He truly felt that he was doing the right thing, that WWCOMMS would be able to create peace. Having said that, Dan had no clue about life outside the company; his fleeting views of it consisted largely of teenage girls gaping and giggling at him.

 

He stared up at the ceiling of his dormitory as he lay on his bed. Being clocked off of work, he didn't need his uniform. T-shirt and boxers (all white, of course). Now that he didn't need to think about work, he could only think about the man his boss took captive. He slid off his bed and slipped back into a jumpsuit, doing it up to the top as he usually would. 

 

Dan walked to where Kyle was being held, and he walked with purpose. Being who he was, nobody questioned Dan. Nobody dared to risk stopping the most important asset of WWCOMMS in case he was on the way to a job.

 

Nobody was guarding Kyle's room. Even with the camera inside the room covered, Kyle wouldn't get far if he got out; there was cameras everywhere in the WWCOMMS buildings. Dan rolled his neck, cracking it, and entered the room. Kyle was asleep, neck awkwardly hung forward, entire body slid down as far as his restraints would allow. A TV had been rolled into the room. An old CRT, nothing special, but still able to play the WWCOMMS broadcast loudly and constantly. Dan was surprised at how Kyle could fall asleep.

 

'Kyle,' called the anchor. Kyle mumbled and lifted his head slightly, eyes red.

 

'Hmm?' Kyle blinked a few times to clear his eyes, his hands moving on impulse to try to stretch above his head.  He pushed himself up the chair with his feet and looked over his shoulder at Dan. 'Hi,' yawned Kyle.

 

He never would have admitted it, but Dan was relieved to see that Kyle was relatively okay. He walked around to the front of Kyle and turned the TV off. 'I hope you're doing alright, Simmons.'

 

'I wish I could stretch a bit, y'know?' Kyle half-joked, stretching his legs in front of him.

 

'How do you know me, Kyle?' Dan asked. 

 

Kyle smiled sadly. 'We grew up together. You lived across the street. You were like the brother I never had. We spent days and nights with one another. Remember the stupid little band we tried to make in secondary school? You taught me how to play keys. I tried to teach you guitar.' Dan swallowed hard and stepped back from Kyle. He blinked a few times. 'You never wore white before this. Always black. Always that one pair of black Vans, nearly worn through. You never-'

 

'Stop it,' Dan demanded. 'Stop it. My head hurts. What are you doing to me?'

 

'I'm not doing anything. You're just remembering.'

 

'You're just a rebel. You... you can't destroy this union we're making.’ Dan's mind was racing. He was remembering things from when he was with Kyle, from before WWCOMMS. At the same time, the things that WWCOMMS had drilled into his head were playing back to him, that WWCOMMS wanted to unite the world under peace. 

 

‘You hated dictators. Now you’re serving under one. You were born on Bastille day and joked that you were born for revolution.’Kyle was so calm. 

 

Dan was crying. He stepped towards Kyle and placed touched his forehead against Kyle’s. ‘I trust you. I thought this was the right thing to do…’

 

‘It’s not your fault…’ Kyle bit his lip, now fighting back his own tears.

 

The door behind Kyle slid open and Dan took a swift step back instinctively. He tried to blink his tears away as he stood to attention as his boss walked through the door, two of his elite agents following suit.

 

‘Dan. Don’t let them kill who you are. Don’t forget me again, please,’ begged Kyle. ‘Find Charlie. Get out of h-’

 

One of agents dressed in a black jumpsuit forced a cloth into Kyle’s mouth, silencing him. Laslo Panoflex stood in front of Dan, blocking his view of Kyle. ‘Don’t listen to him. He’s a rebel, spreading lies.’ He ran a hand through Dan’s hair, then wiped at his tears with his thumb. ‘Get some sleep, 1302. We’ll deal with this.’ Dan nodded gently, then his boss smiled and placed a gentle kiss on the anchor’s forehead. Kyle growled beneath his gag, angry at the show of power in front of him.

 

The second agent took Dan out of the room. Dan looked back at Kyle as he was escorted away. When the door slid shut, Panoflex knelt in front of Kyle.

 

Kyle was glaring at Panoflex as the older man addressed him. ‘You’re a rebel, you know? You only get guns on the outside from rebels. Rebels are terrorists, and rebels get dealt with. The Dan you know and love is gone.’

 

Anger welled up inside Kyle and lashed out at Panoflex. He kicked as hard as he could, aiming for the throat. His target jumped back, narrowly avoiding the attack. Kyle’s chair toppled backwards and spun slightly, causing Kyle to land on his side. He let out a muffled scream of frustration.

 

Kyle could see neither the agent or his boss, but the latter’s voice was clearly audible. ‘Whether you were a rebel before or not, you certainly are now. And you’re not going to get another chance like that.’

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle saw a boot hover over his head. It came down hard on Kyle’s temple. A sharp pain engulfed Kyle and then he felt nothing. 


	4. Chapter 4

Kyle’s head was pounding as he woke up. He found himself on a bed, alone. His wrists had rope burn, his face had blood dried on, his shirt was bloodied. He sat up and looked around the room. There was a toilet and a sink in the corner, but the room was otherwise empty.

Kyle remembered another thing he’d found on the internet with Dan. There was a method of torture where someone would be dressed in all white in a room that was all white, fed only white food on white plates served by guards dressed in white, until they went insane. The building reminded him of that. Thankfully, his clothes (and his blood) provided some comforting colour that told him they weren’t doing that to him. Yet.

The door slid open and in stepped the figure of the man Kyle hated so much. ‘You’re awake,’ stated Panoflex.

‘No thanks to you.’ Kyle stood up and walked towards the older man. He stopped about two feet away, feeling a tugging on his left ankle preventing him moving further. He looked down to find a chain wrapped around his ankle, trailing back to the bed, the other end secured to one of the legs of the bed frame.

‘I could have killed you already if I wanted to,’ Panoflex said nonchalantly, ‘but where’s the fun in that?’ He smiled and Kyle took a step back. ‘You’re a rebel, and rebels are useful to me. For a time, anyway.’

An agent in white stepped into the room, carrying something. A neatly folded jumpsuit, and some other pure white clothes. They placed the pile at the foot of Kyle’s bed, then left.

‘If you ever wish to admit defeat,’ Panoflex said, twirling a key in his hand, ‘just put the suit on. And we’ll process you.’

Panoflex gave Kyle another grim, sly smile, then left. Kyle stood alone in his room and punched at a wall, yelling in anger. He wouldn’t let them break him. He wouldn’t let them keep Dan.

— — — — —

Dan’s head was still spinning. He was remembering so much. His beliefs were conflicting. WWCOMMS was peace... but WWCOMMS was also destroying lives. A peaceful organisation shouldn’t be kidnapping people.

The young news anchor knew one thing for certain though. He cared about Kyle. He didn’t want anyone - not even his boss - hurting Kyle. Panoflex had banned Dan from seeing Kyle, but that didn’t stop Dan from planning on it anyway. The rebel piqued the agent’s curiosity. Dan wanted to know how the world outside WWCOMMS worked, and Kyle had the answers.

Truth be told, Dan still didn’t really know if he should trust Kyle. He felt so safe under the protection of WWCOMMS: he had security escorts, a dormitory of his own, cameras.

Dan shook all thoughts of Kyle from his head. He stripped his jumpsuit off and went to change his underclothes. When he pulled his top off, he paused, looking at himself in the mirror to the side of him.

Watching his reflection, he felt the tattoo on the back of his neck. He’d forgotten about that. The WWCOMMS logo. Bold and black. A reminder of who he worked for. Or of who owned him. Dan’s agent number was inscribed beneath, a small ‘1302’. Dan’s eyes didn’t seem as white as he remembered. They were turning blue, ever so slightly. He cocked his head at the observation and made a mental note to talk to his boss about that.

He shrugged and finished changing into a new set of underclothes, then pulled himself into bed. He had a long day ahead of him. Dan always has to report live on execution days.

— — — — —

Kyle had a rude awakening the next morning. One black suited agent pulled him out of bed while another unchained Kyle’s ankle, then the pair escorted him to another room.

The corridors seemed endless to Kyle. They all looked the same: featureless and white. He knew he’d never find his own way out.

The pair of agents shoved Kyle into an office, then manhandled him into a seat. They stood either side of him, unmoving. Kyle looked around the room. There was the usual office set up of a desk and a chair, and behind that was possibly the largest TV screen Kyle had ever seen.

Laslo Panoflex appeared as if from nowhere. ‘Good morning, Kyle,’ he said calmly, making Kyle jump in his seat. Kyle glared back wordlessly. If looks could kill, Kyle would have made Panoflex disintegrate with his eyes alone.

Panoflex turned on the giant TV above his desk and took a seat, looking at Kyle. The screen showed an almost empty town square. A few agents in white bustled around. Kyle watched the scene. He watched the agents setting up more cameras, and boom mics, and marking Xs on the floor with electrical tape.

‘Why are you showing me this exclusive, behind the scenes footage?’ Kyle asked, half sarcastically.

‘We’re setting up for something... very important. Now let me ask you a question,’ Panoflex leant forward on his desk, ‘what do people do with terrorists, Kyle?’

‘Is this a trick question?’ thought Kyle. ‘Dunno. Well, people like, arrest them, kill them if they can.’

A grim smile crept over Panoflex’s face. ‘Good, yes. Next question. What are the rebels?’

Kyle raised an eyebrow. This one was definitely a trick question to him.

‘The rebels ransack my buildings. They’ve attacked my agents. We’re here to make peace... they’re here for chaos... they’re terrorists, Kyle.’

‘Your peace is bullshit,’ spat Kyle. He snarled at the man on the other side of the desk... then realisation hit him. ‘Wait. You-‘

‘Yes, Kyle?’

‘You-you’re gonna k-kill them?’

‘There we go.’

‘What the fuck!?’

‘We have some of the high profile rebels. We’re going to send a message to the others. Terrorists don’t win.’

The words stuck in Kyle’s throat. ‘Y-you’re gonna broadcast this shit?’

‘And your beloved Daniel will be presenting it.’


	5. Chapter 5

Live executions. Kyle’s head hurt. He remembered the previous ones. Well, remembered that they did happen. He couldn’t watch them. It was the only time he turned the television off. He never realised it was Dan that presented them. Dan. His Dan. Telling people to watch their fellow citizens be killed.

Kyle scrunched his eyes shut. No. This wasn’t his Dan that was doing this.

‘I do hope you enjoy watching your favourite person introduce you to each rebel, and their crimes. And then count them down to their demise.’

‘Shut up, shut up, shut up!’ Kyle yelled, covered his ears with his hands, eyes still shut tightly.

‘You don’t have any other choice to watch this, Simmons,’ snarled Panoflex, venom dripping off his words. ‘You tried to ruin my favourite anchor. My dear boy, Daniel.’

‘He’s not yours,’ whimpered Kyle.

— — — — —

Dan was tired. He hated getting up early, especially since he normally worked in the evening and into the night. He drank some coffee - large, black, and steaming - to shake the tiredness. There was a knock on his door and Dan opened it. An intern had brought his suit to him.

Dan’s special suit was similar to his boss’. White jacket, white trousers, white shirt. The only difference was that the tie was black, and the WWCOMMS logo was emblazoned on the breast pocket of the jacket. It was, in essence, a fancier version of the jumpsuits.

Dan thanked the intern and shut the door. He got dressed and slicked his hair back with gel. He saw his eyes in the mirror again as he did his hair. He really needed to ask his boss about that blueness. Today wasn’t the right day for it though.

His escorts were waiting for Dan outside of his room when he left. They took him to the transport car. The square was only a couple of minutes away by car, and it gave Dan some time to collect his thoughts. There hadn’t been an execution in a long time, over a year in fact.

When he arrived at the square, he was surprised to see that his boss wasn’t there. He asked the director of the shoot where he was. She said that their boss would be along later, handed Dan his script, and walked off, shouting instructions at the other agents. Dan read over his words, muttering them under his breath as he paced.

The director shouted a two minute call as a black van pulled up. The WWCOMMS logo was large and red on its side. The special agents had arrived with the rebels. Dan nodded and straightened his suit.

Laslo Panoflex stepped out of passenger side at the front of the van and Dan stood to attention as soon as he saw his boss.

‘Relax, 1302. You’re doing brilliantly.’

Dan nodded. An agent in white handed him a microphone and wired him up with his earpiece with incredible speed, then hurried away, not wanting to intrude on his business with the boss. Panoflex gave Dan a pat on the back and Dan took his position in front of the camera.

— — — — —

On television screens across the country, the display changed from the white ‘Please Stand By’ screen with the WWCOMMS logo everyone knew so well, to the scene of the town square, Dan at the very forefront. Kyle, meanwhile, was still in Panoflex’s office, and had watched every bit of the behind the scenes action. The cameras being set up, the van pulling up, Daniel looking positively handsome.

Kyle was left alone in the office with the two agents that had brought him there. They were instructed to make sure Kyle watched the whole time, but Kyle knew deep down he wouldn’t be able to look away. Morbid curiosity filled him, as well as concern for how Dan would cope with it. He had no idea how Dan would react.

Dan was looking directly into the camera. Into Kyle’s soul. He smiled politely and introduced the scene as if it were a normal day.

People were pulled out of the van one by one. All blindfolded, all bound at the wrists and ankles. Five in all. Dan introduced each of them like they were guests on a dating show, their “crimes” listed like hobbies. All five of them were knelt on the Xs marked on the floor. A black suited agent stood behind each one, sunglasses covering their agents, pistol in hand.

All their names were known. Dan again smiled at the camera, but Kyle sensed a sadness in him, as if the former knew the latter was watching.

‘Shall we count down?’ rung out Dan’s voice. The question echo’d in Kyle’s mind.

‘Five...’ Dan began to count down.

‘This can’t be real,’ Kyle thought.

‘... four...’

‘Dan, please, you can stop this.’

‘... three...’

‘No.’

‘... two...’

‘I wish you could hear me.’

‘... one...’

‘Stop this.’

‘... zero.’

As the word passed Dan’s lips, an ear shattering bang sounded as five pistols went off, as five bodies went limp and hit the floor, as Kyle screamed Dan’s name at the screen.

On television screens across the country, the television cut to the familiar ‘Here for you, wherever you are’ screen, then to menial adverts. On the screen in front of Kyle, Dan relaxed and was approached by Panoflex, who dismissed him with congratulations, as agents dragged away the bodies behind them. Their white jumpsuits weren’t the normal fabric ones, but plastic boiler suits, and each agent wore safety googled, masks over their mouths and noses, and white latex gloves.

Kyle was on his knees, on the floor, crying. The agents guarding him did nothing, said nothing, just watched.

‘Simmons.’ The voice of Laslo Panoflex boomed from the screen and Kyle looked up, eyes red. ‘That’ll be you if you don’t give it up. Dan’s gone.’

Kyle shook his head as the screen flickered off. He just felt more determined to get Dan out of that place they were stuck in. His mind was whirling with thoughts as the agents hauled Kyle up and back to his room. He didn’t even protest when they pushed him onto his bed and reapplied the chain to his ankle; he was still in shock.

The imagine of Dan smiling kept coming back into his head. The sadness in his eyes. The tint of blue within the irises. The smallest sense of humanity, of emotion, that Kyle hadn’t seen on Dan’s broadcasts since before he was kidnapped. Kyle resolved himself to bring back all the blue in Dan’s eyes.

— — — — —

Dan was sat next to his boss on the short journey back to the WWCOMMS building. He watched the world go by through the window when he spoke.

‘I want to see Kyle.’ Dan said it so matter-of-factly that it took his boss by surprise.

‘I’m sorry?’

‘I want. To see. Kyle.’

‘Why do you want to do that, 1302?’

‘To see if he’s ok.’

‘Why do you care, Smith?’ asked Panoflex, trying to hide his resentment. ‘He’s a rebel.’

‘He doesn’t seem like the others,’ Dan stated. ‘I’ve grown fond of him.’

‘He’s tricking you.’

‘He’s not, I know it. Let me see him, sir.’

Panoflex sighed. ‘Fine. But I will have someone outside as you do so.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

The car pulled up outside the WWCOMMS building and both Dan and his boss got out the back.

Dan followed behind his superior to the room where Kyle was being held. Panoflex sighed gently before motioning with his hand towards Kyle’s door.

The door slid open before Dan and he stepped through the door.

Kyle laid curled up on his bed, facing the wall. His fingers trailed along the scratches in the wall.

‘Kyle.’

Kyle froze when he heard his name.

‘Kyle, it’s me.’

Kyle rolled over and sat on his bed, legs hanging over the edge. ‘Dan.’

Dan took a couple of steps closer to Kyle and Kyle stood up.

‘You let them die,’ hissed Kyle. ‘You... you’re not my Dan.’ He swallowed, crying.

‘I... I never thought about it. I thought it was the right thing to do,’ Dan replied.

Kyle punched Dan square in the face, impacting on his cheekbone. He stepped back, shaking his fist in pain.

The door slid open and an agent rushed in, grasping a shocked Dan.

Kyle was sobbing. ‘Dan. I’m sorry. I love you.’

Dan looked over to Kyle as he was being pulled out the room. He pulled himself free of the agent’s grip. ‘I’m fine.’ Dan glared at the agent. ‘Let me talk to him.’

The agent gritted his teeth and left the pair alone again.

Kyle stepped close to Dan, going as far as the chain around his leg would allow. ‘I’m sorry... you didn’t... have a choice, did you?’

‘I thought it was the right choice,’ Dan repeated.

Kyle gently stroked Dan’s cheek where the punch impacted. Dan flinched slightly. ‘What do you remember, Dan?’

‘I remember you. So much about you. A-and the others. Charlie, Woody, Will. A lot about Charlie disappearing. I think you’re right.’

The door opened and Panoflex stormed into the room. ‘1302, with me, now.’

‘I’ll get you outta here, I promise,’ Dan said hurriedly, in a hushed voice. He was dragged out the room and Kyle was left alone, but he took comfort in one thing.

Dan’s eyes were blue again.


	6. Chapter 6

Agent 1302, Daniel Smith, sat in the office of Laslo Panoflex, the head of the media company WWCOMMS, the former getting his face cleaned gently by the latter.

‘That bloody rebel injured my best news anchor,’ mumbled Panoflex as he dabbed a wet piece of cotton wool on Dan’s injured cheek. ‘You’re going to have to have a lot of make up to cover this up before your next broadcast...’

Dan remained silent. Despite realising just how wrong his boss was, he didn’t want to get on the wrong side of him. Deep in his heart, Dan still wanted to believe that this was the right thing to do, but he knew now that it couldn’t be. He thought back to things that had happened since he worked at WWCOMMS, about how swiftly, how brutally they dealt with people who didn’t agree with them.

Panoflex took a step back and looked at his beloved anchor. ‘There you go. Cleaned up.’ He smiled, then noticed something and frowned. ‘1302, your eyes aren’t the right colour.’

Dan blinked at his boss a couple of times. ‘I had been meaning to ask about that.’

Panoflex knew it meant his conditioning was breaking, and this angered him. He tried to smother this anger as he smiled at Dan. ‘We’ll fix it. Have to put you through basic training again, as a refresher, perhaps?’

Dan frowned. ‘Basic training is... tedious.’

‘But important!’

‘... Yes, sir.’ Dan bowed his head slightly and looked at his shoes. He was torn between loyalty to the company he thought he knew so well, and the man he apparently loved.

‘Come on then, Smith.’ Panoflex gestured for Dan to get up and follow him, which he did. Dan was unsure if the basic training “refresher” would make him forget Kyle, and he was nervous for the first time in a very long while.

— — — — —

Laslo Panoflex was angry. Very angry. He just had to drop off his most important asset to be refreshed on basic WWCOMMS training, because of Simmons.

Agents that showed signs of breaking their conditioning were put through the processes again. The refreshing of basic training, watching more of the broadcasts. Putting them in the TV room meant removing all of their memories, like when he put Dan in there the first time. Panoflex didn’t like doing that for reconditioning because it meant having to get the agents to remember everything again, and that meant they could remember the very things that caused the conditioning to break.

Agents who broke the conditioning, and who couldn’t be reconditioned, were disposed of. Panoflex had no time for assets that were unproductive, or that could give the rebels any advantage.

Panoflex found himself at his office, calling for his special black suited agents, without any thought. Purely on instinct, he called several agents to ‘retrieve that blasted Kyle Simmons’ and to wear him down with broadcasts.

‘Not the TV room. I don’t want him conditioned,’ Panoflex said, making his intent clear. ‘Just worn down. Exhausted. Drain the fight from him. I want him hopeless. Break. Him.’

— — — — —

They waited a few days before retrieving Kyle. They wanted him to think that the time for repercussions was over.

It was a few days after the incident with Dan that the agents pounced on Kyle, in the middle of the night. Kyle was certainly on high alert, but every man has to sleep.

Kyle wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or not when he was grabbed; he had a lot of nightmares about the place he was trapped in. It was only when Kyle was slammed into a chair that the pain pulled him out of his bleary haze. Agents held him down and strapped him in before he could react.

When the agents moved away from Kyle, he could see the room, and the situation he was in. Leather straps across his ankles, wrists, lap and chest meant he had no way to get free. Laslo Panoflex stood a few feet in front of Kyle, back to him. In front of Panoflex was a wall of monitors. 12 screens, arranged to form a larger screen. Speakers in every corner of the room, an inescapable bubble of sound. Cameras positioned besides the speakers meant no angle of Kyle was unseen.

The agents left the room and Kyle was left alone with the man he hated with every fibre of his being.

‘What’s up... Panofuck...’ mumbled a tired Kyle.

Panoflex wordlessly turned and faced Kyle. ‘God, you infuriate me to no end, Simmons. But I’ll be free of you soon.’

Kyle was becoming more alert. ‘You gonna kill me?’

‘... Eventually.’

‘What the hell does that mean?’ Kyle’s voice cracked.

Kyle got no reply. Panoflex turned the screens on and Kyle was hit by a wall of sound. Multiple voices muddled together confused him; 12 broadcast channels played at once.

Kyle could close his eyes to stop the flashing images of the WWCOMMS propaganda, but could do nothing against the noise. He had no perception of time passing, no idea how long he’d been in there, when out of the muddle of chaos he heard Dan. Kyle cautiously opened his eyes.

There on the bottom left screen. Dan. Kyle focused in on him, on his voice, cutting through all the noise of the cacophony he was being pummelled with. He cried out Dan’s name instinctively, some small part of him hoping the man on the screen could hear him.

All 12 screens suddenly acted as one, and the small picture of Dan now took up the whole wall. His voice was singular and monotone. His irises were white.

And Kyle just screamed in anger.

Every insult he could muster was thrown at the cameras in the room. He wouldn’t believe that Dan had forgotten him, abandoned him, that the blue eyed boy had slipped away again.

Panoflex’s voice boomed out of the speakers and Dan’s voice was silenced, although he kept presenting on the screens. ‘He’s one of ours, Kyle. Refresher in the basic training and he’s back to his normal self.’

‘You mother fucker!’ screamed Kyle. ‘That’s not normal, and never will be!’

A disembodied laugh resonated through the speakers as Kyle frantically tried to slip his wrists out of their bindings. ‘You two will see each other again soon.’


	7. Chapter 7

The basic training refresher may have bored 1302, but he had all but forgotten Kyle. The young rebel hadn’t crossed the anchor’s mind since the refresher finished. Panoflex seemed incredibly happy to be seeing Dan around the building.

Dan’s routine bored him now. He didn’t know why. He almost wanted a rebel attack to happen, just to shake things up. Dan figured he was still getting used to the return to normal following the execution. People always got riled up. Small protests of rebels, but nothing WWCOMMS couldn’t handle.

Fortunately for Dan, there was a new WWCOMMS mobile phone that was being released. Dan loved presenting press conferences. Sure, he didn’t know anything about the tech - he just learnt a script to read - but he did love the excitement in the air, the anticipation, let off by the crowd.

The new phones were the epitome of WWCOMMS control. They could automatically connect to non-WWCOMMS phones and track their location. Laslo Panoflex wanted to find the rebels and where they met, and he had spent so long getting his tech department to perfect this for him. With the protests, Panoflex felt this was the perfect opportunity to track the rebels and destroy them.

The other agents could deal with the rebels outside, though. Panoflex only had one rebel he cared about right at that moment, and he had that rebel firmly where he wanted.

The door to Kyle’s holding room slid open and Panoflex walked in slowly. Kyle had his head back, staring at the ceiling. He disassociated himself from the chaos of noise and moving images, his blank stare almost like that of the WWCOMMS agents, save for the polarising brownness of his irises.

Panoflex clapped his hands loudly together and Kyle jumped and started looking around him in panic.

‘Oh. You,’ grumbled Kyle when he saw Panoflex.

‘You should be watching the TV.’

‘I prefer the radio.’ Kyle gave a devilish smile at that remark, knowing he’d piss off the older man.

Panoflex stood behind the chair Kyle was bound to and held his hands to Kyle’s temples, forcing him to watch the screens. Kyle tried to bite Panoflex’s hands as it happened.

‘Good boys watch the news to know what’s going on in the world.’

‘I got suspended in reception for throwing scissors,’ mused Kyle. ‘I’ve never been a quote-unquote “good boy”.’

Panoflex ignored Kyle’s idiocy. Kyle wasn’t the worst rebel: he could never destroy a building or kill a man, but his little quips and comments were the worst type of rebellion in Panoflex’s eyes.

The boss of the company decided to turn it up a notch. Kyle had gotten used to the continuous noise. Panoflex stepped away from the chair and fiddled with a panel besides the door. The sound would now turn on and off at random intervals, the channels would change randomly too.

‘Get some sleep while you can, Simmons,’ smiled Panoflex. ‘It’ll be a hard time coming to you soon enough.’

As Panoflex left, Kyle was confused. He didn’t trust him; part of him wanted to shut his eyes and nap, taking Panoflex’s advice, but he didn’t like to be defenceless if he could avoid it. He’d slept a little in the few days he’s been there, in the times when some channels were offline.

But Kyle was already tired. It was hard to sleep in the position he was held, and with the noises from the TVs.

He got more tired over the next few days. The intermittent blaring of sound woke him from whatever sleep he could muster. Dan was on the screens more, and it broke Kyle to see him. The press conference Dan presented made Kyle break down. Dan promoting the spyware that was modelled as a phone.

Panoflex caught on quickly that his news anchor was the quickest way to break Kyle down. Kyle couldn’t bare to see Dan act the way he was. Kyle wondered why Dan hadn’t come to see him. Kyle missed Dan.

The next time Dan came on one of the TV screens, Kyle found himself sobbing.

‘Fucking hell, stop this...’ mumbled Kyle, tears rolling off his cheek. He was exhausted. He didn’t know how long he’d been stuck in the room. ‘I don’t care anymore, just let me see Dan again...’

The door slid open behind Kyle. Kyle didn’t even look around; his tears blinded him.

‘You want to see Dan again?’ asked Panoflex.

‘Please...’

Panoflex signalled with his hand and two agents entered the room and released the binds from Kyle.

Kyle collapsed to the floor, his eyes still fixed on the screen with Dan on. He had no fight left in him, even when the agents pulled him to his feet.

WWCOMMS had broken Kyle, and he no longer cared what happened to him.


	8. Chapter 8

Not every execution was broadcast. Most of them weren’t, in fact. Only the high profile rebels were executed publicly. Dan only attended the public executions.

When Panoflex called Dan to one of the rooms to witness an execution, Dan was perplexed. He was confused but he knew better than to question his boss’ decisions.

A black suited agent guarded the door that Dan was summoned to. Dan cleared his throat and the agent peered at him through tinted sunglasses, then they stepped aside, door sliding open as they did.

Panoflex stood alone in the empty room, checking over a revolver in his hand. Dan had seen the gun a few times in the past; Panoflex took it with him to dangerous situations. He was an excellent marksman, having held his own when rebels jumped his car and injured his security.

‘Sir?’ Dan asked quietly. Panoflex looked up from his gun and up at Dan.

Panoflex smiled, walked over to Dan and embraced him, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead. ‘My favourite anchor.’

‘Why do you need me?’

‘I thought I could stretch to fulfil the last wish of a rebel. Just this once,’ said Panoflex as a sly smile crept across his face.

‘They want to see me?’ Dan cocked his head. Panoflex nodded in reply. Dan was confused. Normally the rebels hated the sight of him, but he didn’t see the harm in seeing a rebel if they were about to be put down.

Panoflex snapped his fingers and a door at the back of the room - hidden, different from the one Dan entered through - slid open. An agent in black pushed through a young man and forced him to his knees. Brown eyes, bearded, hands tied behind his back, gagged with a cloth.

Dan frowned. He felt off about this and he wasn’t sure why. The usual defiance of the rebels wasn’t in the young man’s eyes, just a tiredness, a sadness. His eyes met Dan’s and gave a wordless plea.

‘... Are you sure he’s a rebel? He doesn’t look the type,’ questioned Dan.

‘Trust me. He’s a rebel,’ snarled Panoflex in reply, glaring at his unwilling supplicant.

Dan crouched down to meet the other man’s eye at his level. He looked so, so tired, so devoid of hope, but still looked at Dan with all the warmth in the world.

‘Stand back, 1302,’ instructed Panoflex, holding up the revolver to examine it. Dan did as he was told, albeit with more caution than normal. He maintained eye contact with the other man.

Rebels were normally thoroughly defiant, even until the end. Something about this one was different. Something about him felt wrong.

Panoflex undid the knot securing the gag, then pressed the gun to his prisoner’s temple. ‘Five words. Use them wisely.’

‘... Dan... I still love you,’ muttered the young rebel. He dipped his head to the floor, no fight left in him.

Panoflex started his countdown. ‘Five...’

He hammered back the safety with his thumb.

Dan felt a tear run down his cheek. He didn’t know why he was crying.

‘... four...’

Dan remembered everything that had happened.

‘... three...’

Dan remembered Kyle being brought in. He remembered their conversations.

‘... two...’

Dan remembered how Panoflex made him forget again.

‘... one...’

Dan remembered how to feel angry.

Panoflex tightened his finger around the trigger and pulled it, and an almighty bang resonated around the room. 


	9. Chapter 9

Dan didn’t realise he was moving. He leapt towards the revolver. The gun went off just behind Kyle’s head, the shot made Kyle’s eardrum rupture and bleed. He gasped for breath, ecstatic to be alive. He even embraced the feeling of his blood run down his face and neck.

Kyle turned to face Dan and Panoflex. They were speaking but the ringing in Kyle’s ears made their conversation inaudible. Dan lunged towards Panoflex and tried to wrestle the gun from his grip.

The pair grappled for the revolver. Another bang resonated - the ringing in his ears wouldn’t muffle that for Kyle. Dan stumbled backwards, clutching his side. Panoflex gritted his teeth wordlessly and aimed the gun at Kyle again.

Panoflex said something to Kyle, but Kyle couldn’t make it out. Kyle was frozen in place.

Dan pulled Kyle up on his feet with one hand and dragged him out the door. The pair stumbled as fast as they could through the building. Kyle looked at Dan. Red blood soaked through the agent’s jumpsuit.

‘Dan?’ Kyle asked loudly, although he thought he was quiet because of his muffled hearing. Dan shook his head and kept going, his free hand on Kyle’s wrist the whole time.

Kyle’s hearing was nearly fully recovered when alarms started blaring. ‘Ahhh, shit,’ swore Kyle.

‘Just keep going,’ groaned Dan. ‘We’re nearly out.’

The pair made eye contact and relief flooded through Kyle at the deep blue eyes of his elder.

They stumbled out the doors of the building. The streets were quiet, save for a couple of homeless people asleep on the pavement.

Kyle looked around quickly, then it was his turn to do the leading. He told Dan to follow him and they dove into a small back alley and ducked between two large rubbish bins.

‘Turn your back to me,’ whispered Dan. ‘You’re gonna need your hands free.’ Kyle nodded and did as he was told. Dan fiddled with the knots with his free hand, cursed under his breath, then removed his other hand from his injury. Bloody, shaky hands pulled the knots free and Kyle rubbed his now free wrists.

Kyle now turned to Dan, but kept an ear out for WWCOMMS. Commotion came from outside the building but nobody had come their way.

Kyle inspected the injury to Dan. The bullet was embedded just above Dan’s hip and was still bleeding. ‘Ahhh, shit.’

‘Do you not know any other ways to curse?’ joked Dan. Kyle rolled his eyes and ripped at the bottom of his shirt. He pulled a decently wide strip off and then tied it around Dan’s midriff as a makeshift bandage.

The pair waited for what felt like forever until the commotion died down. Kyle stood up carefully and took Dan by the hand. Dan still kept one hand firmly over his injury and he looked paler than normal.

‘I know people who can help,’ Kyle said, gently leading Dan down the alleyway. ‘If I can remember the route without the cameras...’

‘I’m gonna stick out like a sore thumb dressed in this, Kyle,’ Dan sighed. ‘Even if cameras don’t see us, people will.’

Kyle peeked out carefully from the end of the alleyway and spied a market store being set up, a few racks of coats and hoodies and t-shirts set up. ‘How do you feel about theft, Dan?’ Kyle asked.

Before Dan could respond, Kyle saw an opening, ran out to the hoodie rack, grabbed a couple of hoodies and ran to the alleyway opposite. He grinned at Dan, held up two fingers as if to say ‘two minutes,’ then ducked around the corner.

Dan waited and, true to form, Kyle appeared a couple of minutes later. Kyle handed Dan a navy hoodie before pulling a black one around himself. Dan struggled slightly putting on the hoodie and doing it up, but Kyle helped him. With their hoodies up, the bloody pair looked a bit more normal.

‘Come on, this way,’ Kyle said, taking Dan gently by the hand. Kyle led Dan through a labyrinth of alleyways, always carefully checking before any corner or open space. The alleyways opened up into empty space, and a warehouse. Kyle sighed in relief, he was glad he remembered the way.

‘This... doesn’t look like anything that can help me, Kyle,’ Dan groaned.

Kyle had at catch the older man as he fell slightly and lend his shoulder. ‘Trust me.’

The pair moved slowly towards the warehouse, Kyle supporting Dan. Kyle rapped his knuckles against the door and a small window opened up, a pair of eyes glaring at him.

‘Yo, shit, thought you died, beardy. Haven’t heard from you in like, a month, bro,’ came the voice from behind the door.

‘Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence,’ Kyle joked. ‘My friend and I really need some help here. We just, uh, escaped the WWCOMMS building.’

‘Yo.’

The window shut and Kyle heard the bolt slide open, then the door creaked open. Kyle walked in, half-carrying Dan, who had all but passed out.

The pair entered the warehouse. The rebels’ headquarters looked better on the inside than the outside. Several eyes glanced over at the pair and Kyle smiled awkwardly.

The door man nodded at Kyle, then raised an eyebrow at the silent Dan. Dan’s breathing was heavy, laboured.

‘He ok?’ asked the door man.

‘He was shot,’ Kyle answered, pulling his hood down. ‘I was nearly shot,’ he said, pointing at the blood that had come out his ear and dried on his cheek and neck.

The door man lowered Dan’s hood then backed away quickly. ‘What the fuck, man?! That’s-‘

‘I know, he’s not-‘ Kyle protested

‘You brought that fucking anchor in here?’

A murmur spread through the rebels, some of them panicking and raising their guns at the pair.

‘Fucking hell, look at him!’ Kyle yelled. He held Dan’s limp head up. ‘Dan, open your eyes,’ he said quietly, Dan obeying without question, opening his eyes as much as he could. Kyle used his free hand to undo the hoodie zip and show everyone the bullet wound. Many guns remained pointed at the pair and Kyle was afraid that Dan had suffered for nothing.


	10. Chapter 10

Kyle clung onto Dan, shielding him from as many of the guns pointed at them as he could.

‘Please,’ Kyle choked, ‘I didn’t go through hell to get him out only for him to die.’

A familiar voice cut through the crowd. ‘Kyle?’

‘... Will?’ replied Kyle.

Will pushed his way through the irate rebels and made himself visible to the bloodied pair. ‘Fucking hell, I thought you died or something.’

‘How- what the fuck?’ Kyle stuttered.

‘You stopped coming to the shop without saying anything, so I thought you’d... y’know, been like, assassinated for being a pain.’

‘Is “being a pain” a legitimate reason for assassination?’

‘To WWCOMMS it is. Is that Dan?’

‘Yeah. They want to shoot him.’

‘Fucking hell.’

Will spent a few minutes convincing his rebel friends to down the guns, and then took Kyle and Dan to the makeshift medical room.

‘It’s not a lot but they’ll be able to help you both.’

Dan had all but passed out when one of the rebels worked on his wound. She said she was a trained doctor but Kyle kept his uncertainty silenced.

Another one of the rebels cleaned Kyle up with he spoke with Will, the pair telling each other what had happened since their last meeting. Will hadn’t had nearly as much action as Kyle, simply just staying at the shop and looking out for some hint of what happened to Kyle.

With Dan stitched up and given a new set of clothes, Will, Kyle and Dan were herded to a flimsy partition - a thin wall - to figure out what to do next. It was some sort of office on the other side of the wall. The more “senior” rebels wanted to know what happened, but they didn’t trust Dan. They only wanted to talk to Kyle. He reluctantly left him outside, Will promising to look after him.

‘I won’t let him get shot. Besides, if they shoot him, the bullet will go through the plywood and probably hit one of you,’ Will said, trying to reassure Kyle.

‘.... thanks....’

It took Kyle about half an hour to convince the rebel leaders that Dan was harmless. Dan probably would have hated Kyle for the stuff that was brought up since Kyle cited their younger years to prove that Dan wasn’t dangerous. The rebels were reluctant to help but they had to repay the pair for crippling WWCOMMS somehow, so they eventually agreed to help hide the two of them.

Another pair of rebels, armed with more guns than Kyle thought possible, gathered to take the pair to a new, out-of-the-way place to stay. Will tagged along and Kyle joked that he was nosy. Dan was silent the whole time.

Their new place was hardly bigger than the last place Kyle called home. A small bungalow, with a small bathroom, smaller kitchen, half empty lounge, and one bedroom. The rebels apologised for that last point. Kyle secretly felt glad for it. Dan didn’t acknowledge it.

Will and the other rebels waited outside while Dan and Kyle looked at their new home and Kyle took the chance to talk to Dan.

‘You ok? I know it’s not a lot, and we gotta share a room, but I can sleep on the sofa if you want the room to yourself.’

Dan’s eyes flicked around the bungalow. The walls were a slight off-white colour and there was a small echo to every noise.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until Dan spoke softly. ‘... Can we paint the walls...?’

Kyle opened his mouth to ask why, then shut it again when he realised that the white would resemble the walls of WWCOMMS, so he nodded.

— — — — —

The two of them settled in quickly. Dan was so quiet for the first couple of days, staying in bed all the time, but gradually opening up and speaking to Kyle more.

The walls got painted. Kyle did it on his own, insisting that Dan get some rest, and Dan protesting that Kyle needed some rest as well. Kyle passed out in exhaustion one afternoon, sound asleep on the sofa, paint on his face. Dan took this chance to do some of the painting himself, but knocking over the stepladder woke the sleeping Kyle with a start. The pair finished the painting together.

Dan had nightmares. He’d be screaming in his sleep and Kyle would rush to wake him up and check on him. Kyle had nightmares, too, but he refused to admit it to Dan; he didn’t want his older companion worrying.

Kyle would sometimes catch Dan staring at his tattoo in the mirror. Dan denied any negative emotions but Kyle could see the hurt in his eyes, but he had no idea how to comfort him.

Another late night and Kyle awoke to Dan’s sobbing. He thought it was another nightmare. Kyle found Dan with blood on his hands and a knife on the floor, the back of his neck bleeding. Dan tried to slice off the tattoo and made a single deep cut, but couldn’t push himself through the act. Dan sobbed as Kyle stemmed the bleeding, spitting out all sorts of words about himself that hurt Kyle to hear. Kyle comforted and held Dan until the latter fell asleep in the former’s arms.

Kyle lifted the sleeping Dan into his bed. When he turned to leave, he heard Dan murmur something.

‘... don’t leave me on my own, Kyle...’

The bed was a small double bed, so the pair fit in, if a little close. Dan scooted over so Kyle could get in, then swiftly fell asleep. Kyle listened to Dan’s breathing, the occasional gentle snore coming out. Kyle attempted to sneak out but Dan had rolled over and rested his head on Kyle’s shoulder. Kyle sighed and resigned himself to sleep.

It ended up that the pair shared the bed each night. It was easier for them to provide comfort to the other if one had a nightmare. Kyle made a mental note to get a bigger bed if they were going to keep this up.

The rebels sent a message - via Will - to the pair a few weeks after they settled down, asking if they could use Dan as a counter-anchor, using the popularity he already had to convince the public that WWCOMMS was in the wrong.

‘You up to it, Danny?’ Will asked as the trio sat in the lounge.

‘Please don’t call me that,’ Dan replied, sipping his coffee.

‘Will he be safe, Will?’ Kyle asked. ‘He’s been through a lot of shit as it is, I don’t want him to have to go through even more shit. This is the most Dan-like Dan has been in years.’

‘You sound like my mother, Kyle,’ teased Dan. He then looked Will in the eye. ‘I’ll do it. WWCOMMS killed a lot of people. I don’t want them to kill any more. But don’t treat me like anyone special.’

Dan shuddered visibly, thinking about Panoflex.


	11. Epilogue

The boss of WWCOMMS was angry. Really angry.

Videos had gone up of Dan, his anchor, being friends with the rebels and spreading company secrets. Panoflex had no idea where Dan was, either. There was no landmarks he could go off of, no glimpses of his now rebellious agent on any camera.

WWCOMMS agents were all over the place now. The public had gotten more bold: some civilians tried to attack some agents. They failed and were apprehended, but for the first time in forever, Panoflex was worried.

‘That boy is too handsome for his own good,’ Panoflex complained to a couple of his agents. ‘Bloody fans. Do whatever he says without a second thought. I used to like that.’

The agents remained silent. Panoflex continued.

‘I don’t think I can get him back easily.’

  
— — — — —

Dan’s fanbase still existed. In a way it had got bigger. There were still those who followed his WWCOMMS life, who thought this rebel stuff was forced on him. There were those who believed the opposite, that believed the truth.

Dan and Kyle watched the city run riot as rebels acted out against WWCOMMS, fuelled by a new found bravery that came from the mere presence of Dan as one of them.

They held hands as they stood atop a hill, away from the city but close enough to see what was going on. There were a few rebels standing guard over them nearby, but far enough away for the pair to talk privately.

‘You ever wish we could go back to before all this shit, Dan?’ Kyle asked.

Dan mumbled. ‘I’m not really cut out to be the centre of attention...’ He traced the fingers of his free hand over the tattoo etched on his neck, feeling the scars where he tried to cut it out.

‘It just feels like you’re still in the same position as before. Just for the other team,’ sighed Kyle, resting his head on the other man’s shoulder.

‘I’m ok now, with you. Look at the wonderful mess that we made.’


End file.
